A Must Read Construction Tool Guide for Any Contractor

Are you looking to put together your first construction tool kit? Have you just completed a construction safety program and now want the tools?? Or have you been working for a while already and found it’s time to upgrade your tools?

There are so many different tools out there it can be confusing to know which ones you need! No one person needs every tool. What you need will depend on the job you’re doing.

Professional-grade tools are designed to be used for multiple hours a day, every work day of the year. They are often heavier and provide more power than a homeowner’s tool that will only be used occasionally.

Whether this is your first job or your four-hundredth, here is an essential construction. This will get you started on building or upgrading your personal set of construction tools.

Essential Safety Tools

Safety is the number one priority on every construction site. These items will provide you with some extra protection while you’re on the job.

Hard Hat

A hard hat protects you from falling objects on a job site. Head injuries happen on big and small sites, so one of the best construction job tips is always to keep your head covered.

Steel-toe Boots

Another area of your body that needs extra protection is your feet. Construction sites are full of heavy objects that could fall on or puncture your feet. Boots that are reinforced with steel in the tow area and the sole can help protect your feet as you walk around a site.

Safety Glasses

Safety glasses protect your eyes from particles and debris. They also help keep light, wind, and heat from hurting your eyes.

Safety Vest

Having a safety vest keeps you visible on a job site. This is especially important when you’re working on public roads. They identify you not only to your fellow workers but help drivers on the road see you.

General Purpose Construction Tool List

There are some essential tools that most people will need regardless of their specialty. Including them in your collection will keep you prepared for almost anything.

Power Drill

A power drill rotates a small bit to create a hole in wood or metal. They are used to both screw into or unscrew out of material. There are both corded and cordless varieties. Cordless varieties are very useful if you’re in a construction site without power outlets.

Saw

Saws are used for cutting wood. There are both manual (hand) saws and powered saws.

Hand saws have a handle on one end of a long flat metal blade with a row of sharp cutting teeth. There are different types of hand saws for different materials. Some are good for wood, while others are for different types of drywall.

Powered saws have a circular blade covered with sharp teeth that rotates at high speed. Some can be carried and maneuvered by hand. Others are built into tables that allow for cutting larger pieces more accurately.

Hammer

A hammer is one of the most basic items in a toolset. There are multiple types of hammers. The most common is the claw hammer, which can be used to pull out nails. One of the larger hammers is a sledgehammer which is often used in demolition.

Wrench

Wrenches are used to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts. They are made of metal and often come in sets of different sizes.

Screwdrivers

Manual screwdrivers can provide essentially the same work as a power drill. But the advantage they offer is more precise work in small areas. The drivers are attached to the handles and are less likely to fall off.

There are flathead and Phillips screwdrivers, to match the two types of screws. They work by twisting a screw to tighten or loosen it.

Pliers

Pliers are often used as an extension of your fingers. They help hold and grip items that are difficult to reach. They can offer extra pressure when twisting nuts and bolts. They can also strip wires and cut cables.

Utility Knife

A retractable all-purpose knife with a sharp blade can be one of the best construction tools in your set. You will use it to cut through many materials, including wire, string, tape, paper, and thin plastic.

Vises and Clamps

Vises and clamps are very helpful “extra hands” on a job. They hold materials tight and steady. This is helpful if you need to cut an item and want it to stay in place. Or if you’re gluing two pieces together and need to hold them with a little extra pressure while the glue dries.

Specialty Construction Tools

If you are going to be doing a lot of electrical work, then you may want to include a Voltage Checker and Multimeter in your tool kit. A voltage checker is a handheld sensor that can check the voltage of a current. A multimeter, on the other hand, can measure the voltage, current, and resistance. Items like this will need batteries to keep them running, using a battery cabinet like the ones here from Storemasta can give you a centralised unit in which to charge batteries for all manner of construction tools, this is both air cooled with fans and fireproof / spillproof in order to keep your workplace secure from any risk of battery failure or malfunction when they are stored overnight etc.

For carpentry work, you may want to consider including a power sander. A standard sander will recreate the standard back-and-forth motion to smooth down wooden surfaces. An orbital sander works in circular motions for ultra-smooth precision.

Other Construction Tool Accessories

There are a few construction job tricks of the trade that help make things just a little easier. One is keeping a collection of various sized screws, nails, nuts, and bolts in your took kit.

Another handy item to include is these velcro cable ties. They’ll help you keep your worksite clean and orderly.

A variety of measuring tapes and squares are essential for every construction job. Rulers and squares offer a firm straight edge for precise measuring and marking with a pencil. Squares let you make precise right angles.

A measuring tape is useful for lengths longer than a traditional ruler. Although they’re flexible to roll up in its case, they provide some stability to measure long distances, often up to 25 or 50 feet.

Finally, levels are a flat tool that includes a small amount of liquid with a bubble inside. They are used to tell if a surface is flat or hanging straight.

Best Construction Tool Kit

This list is a great starting point for building your essential construction toolset. They will both help you do your work and keep you safe while you’re doing it.

Check out other articles on our site to learn more construction job tricks and tips for your worksite.